It’s funny how quickly time can fly. One minute you’re ringing in the new year, the next you’re pulling out your summer clothes. And here we are. Two weeks away from the unofficial start to summer!
If one of your goals was to lose weight in time for the summer, but you haven’t taken steps towards it yet, it’s definitely not too late. There are options to lose weight quickly in a safe, healthy way. But we strongly encourage you not to go it alone. You’ll need the guidance and expertise of a professional who understands the complexities of how weight loss works in the body.
If you want to lose weight quickly, the first thing you need to do is take a look at what you’re eating. If most of your current meals are high in calories and loaded with sugar and unhealthy fats, you need to recognize that those should no longer be on the menu. Instead, choose foods and beverages that have little or no sugar and ample amounts of protein, unsaturated fat, and fiber. These will keep you feeling fuller for longer and build or maintain lean muscle mass, which is essential for a robust metabolism.
To make your food options simpler, you may also want to consider a short-term plan using meal replacements, like high protein shakes and bars. But be careful. Not all meal replacement products are made alike. To achieve your goals, you’ll need products that provide the nutrition you need for health and feeling full as well as satisfying taste to make sure you stick with it.
The other important component to consider for a summer-ready body is activity levels. Now that the weather is getting nicer, there is no reason you shouldn’t be taking advantage of it with daily walks in your neighborhood or during your lunch breaks. Thirty minutes of moderate intensity walking five days a week is really the best way to get started with exercise if you’re not already engaging in it. Soon you’ll find that you’ll want to pick up the pace and even add strength-training exercises to your routine. When you do that, your metabolism goes into high gear!
There are other ways to facilitate healthy weight loss, such as with the use of prescription appetite suppressants. But you will definitely need to see a medical professional trained in weight management to experience those potential benefits.
Finally, while achieving the short-term success for summer will make you feel good, you don’t want it to all go to waste come the fall. In order to keep off the weight for good, it is absolutely essential that you change your behaviors. The best way to do this is to undergo behavioral counseling for weight loss, which will first expose and then help you overcome the root causes of your weight loss challenges, whether they be physical or emotional.
So take that step now! It’s never too late to make positive changes, whether in the summer, spring, winter or fall. You deserve to enjoy every season of your life!
